Tuesday’s lineup: No Pagan, no Belt. Plus, another issue from the last two weeks (sorry!)

The Giants were off yesterday, but they still got bad news. Thanks to the Dodgers’ win, the Giants now top the Wild Card standings, not the West. Which brings to mind another serious issue from the last two weeks — The Giants let the rest of the contenders, not just the Dodgers, make up a ton of ground.

They’re currently tied with the Nationals, half a game ahead of the Cardinals, one ahead of the Reds and two ahead of the Pirates. On June 8, the Giants had nine games on the Nats, 9 1/2 on the Cardinals, 12 on the Reds and and 12 1/2 on the Pirates.

As for the here and now, one change up top against lefty rookie Marco Gonzales. But Angel Pagan remains out, and Brandon Belt remains at Triple-A. No surprise with Belt; Buster Posey would have been at first tonight anyway with Hector Sanchez catching Tim Lincecum.

“Separate the weak from the obsolete
The meek, I creep hard on impostors
And switch styles on the dime, quick-witted y’all
Quit tripping, I don’t have time for your crying
I grind tough, sucker, make your mind up
Are you in the firing squad or are you in the line-up?”https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=yrs3YGgAqxQ&feature=kp

Angry Dan

Belt probably needs a day of rest after his rehab assignment, so why not activate him tonight so he’s available off the bench and then he’ll be ready to go tomorrow against Wainwright? If this were Pagan or Pence or Posey or Sandoval, they’d be activated by now. But the 2013 team leader in OPS? Nah, let’s keep waiting while the team continues its free-fall…

Surf Maui

Ouch! No Pagan.

The 2014 season starts tonight!

BALDHEADSLIK1

Lineup isn’t that bad, there are only 2 guys in there who weren’t regulars when we got off to the hot start.

channelclemente

It’s nice for Belt to be loved, finally, after all the abuse he endured.

Very disappointed there is no Pagan, and extremely frustrated that Belt apparently needs 3 HR in a minor league game like Harper to get back to the show. I guess… at least Perez is something different to look at leading off.

I saw the first 2 losses of this dismal streak at ATT plus a couple others sprinkled in there. I really really hope I don’t see another in person. I’ll be in the 112. Go Giants!

Yes you are correct. And 3 up on CIN and 4 up on PIT. At least for right now.

MLBSF

I think we all knew he was done.
What about Morse? I think he is badly injured as well.
I don’t know how you replace them.

Michael Scott

I speculated that there might be off field issues. Won’t do that again. But whatever it is, he was more snarly than inspirational in the last couple weeks before hit the DL.

MLBSF

This is true.

OMT

This team is really going to have to find the fire inside to get going without Pagan. What happened to the Reverend? Seems like he needs to make an emotional speech and throw some dang sunflower seeds or SOMETHING!

MLBSF

HA!

Michael Scott

These stiff backs are contagious.

Michael Scott

What a surprise.

channelclemente

Back pain of that sort can make you a ;little edgy. It’s excruciating, you can’t sleep, etc.

Michael Scott

It seems to have come and gone from play to play.

channelclemente

Pence ‘pulled back after he got nailed in the rib cage by Wheeler. You wonder if he’s not nursing something too.

Surf Maui

I’m not sure about selling, but I wouldn’t be mortgaging the future to be buying either.

channelclemente

Injections.

BALDHEADSLIK1

Yeah back pain will keep u up for days

Michael Scott

On the field?

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/giants/ ClutchUp

After your futbol meltdown you are certainly done

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/giants/ ClutchUp

Oh ok

BALDHEADSLIK1

There has to be someone out there available who can step in and do the job respectfully

Eleuthero

Oh gawd almighty. Perez, Sanchez, and HicKKKS in the lineup? Really? So Dad and his two sons on their $200-$250 night out are going to be subjected to THIS? No Duvall and no Panik. Why did the Giants bring these guys up if you’re going to let them sit on the pines? Of course, on any given night a weakie can muscle up but I just don’t get the idea of sitting rookies down when you’ve got FOUR players in the lineup (including Lincecum) whose combined batting average is around .170?

BALDHEADSLIK1

When someone travels to see a Dr all is not well, we might be in BIG trouble.

channelclemente

No, but having had pain yourself, you know how it can screw with your head.

Mr. Sarcastic

Jeeeeeezuz ClutchUp… Do you HAVE to reply to every comment that MLBSF posts? EVERY ONE? You’re like Pavlov’s Dog.. conditioned response. (Well I guess in honor of Alex you could be Pavlovic’s Dog…)

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can *trust yourself when all men doubt you*,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can *dream—and not make dreams your master*;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with *Triumph and Disaster*
And treat those two* impostors* just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Michael Scott

Well, we’ll see.

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/giants/ ClutchUp

I’ve missed a few today SARC
School Accountability Report Card (SARC)

Michael Scott

You keep track? You get paid for that?

channelclemente

I wonder if that becomes Belt. If he hits, and plays hard nosed ball, he might. It wouldn’t take more than 1 or 2 games of good, tight baseball to get their feet back under them, IMO.

TheRealKetchUp

Lots of garbage out there, one might say.

Eleuthero

Going to see a “specialist” is a code phrase for “the problem isn’t just stiff muscles”. He’s probably got a mild herniation but even with a small one, the surgery to scrape away the part that’s protruding outside of the vertebral column is not one where you’re out for 2 weeks. He’d be back in September. A week ago I said that if the Giants injury problems stayed the same or worsened this blog would be really dull by mid August. It might be dull by late July. Who’s HEALTHY? Oh, yes, Pablo at clean-up with 34 RBIs. Sigh.

Mr. Sarcastic

Mark my words!!! Pagan’s injury will be the rallying cry that gets this team charging forward again!! In 2012 it was the sudden loss of Melky that united them! In 2010 it was… ummm… whatever that devastating thing was that happened!!! And now, as if scripted, this 2013 team will rise from the ashes of despair and ……

Awwww, we’re screwed.

Foothills Ryan

Fuggit. Just merge with the A’s and create a super team. Total dominance by the bay area. Of course, LA will have similar ideas. Gulp.

MLBSF

It’s a joke and a disgrace

I posted this yesterday for anyone interested in filing a complaint against the Giants for getting ripped off:

I’m talkin about a leadoff guy CC, I’d bet u a nickel that BS will go and get someone to spell PAGAN and play cf

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/giants/ ClutchUp

A bunting clinic by GiantsExtra Poster “Livefree”

Bunting: How To Bunt Efficiently Is A Tremendous Offensive Weapon!

Why has something that can help a baseball team tremendously become a lost art? A well-executed bunt can decide the baseball game. If you are a player, a coach, or a baseball parent, read how to bunt, how you will benefit and what you should and should not do. Even if you are not one of the stronger hitters, your value to your team will skyrocket! During every at bat, it costs you absolutely nothing to take a sneaky and very quick glance and see where the first baseman and third baseman are playing. You will occasionally see one of them six or seven steps behind the bag and you can get a hit that is really “on the house.” Right-Handed Batters: 1) In executing a good bunt toward third base, the right-handed batter must angle the bat down the first base line and try to make contact on the bat somewhere between the sweet spot and the end of the bat. 2) Slide the top right hand down just past the trademark on the bat as soon as the pitcher is releasing the ball, so the pitcher and the third baseman are not tipped off too early. 3) You pinch the bat with the thumb and an index finger, making sure your hand stays safely behind the bat. 4) You should put the bat right in the middle of the strike zone so you won’t have too far to move the bat no matter where the ball is pitched. 5) Your bottom left hand is the hand that pivots the bat and the right hand guides the bat. 6) Try to deaden the ball so the surprised third baseman has a long way to come in and field it. Deadening the ball with the bat is referred to as “catching” the ball with the bat. 7) The ideal bunt should go very close to the third base line and not between the third baseman and the pitcher. 8) You do not want the pitcher to field the bunt! Please read that again. 9) By bunting and having the ball go very close to the line, it makes the third baseman’s throw longer and from a much more difficult angle. 10) When the right-handed batter wants to bunt for a hit on the right side of the infield, he should try to push the ball just past the pitcher. 11) The batter should not square around, as in a sacrifice situation but should remain mobile and preferably be already moving toward first base as he is actually bunting the ball. His body should be turned more toward first base than toward the pitcher. 12) The preference is to have the much deeper second baseman field the bunt. 13) The perfect bunt on the right side should just barely be out of the pitcher’s reach, which will create chaos between the first and second baseman as to who should field the bunt and very possibly nobody will be covering first base. Left-Handed Batters: 1) The left-handed batter slides his left hand to just past the trademark on the bat. 2) You should try to be in motion as you bunt the ball, unlike when sacrifice bunting where you would be stationary. 3) You use the thumb and index finger to guide the bat and the bottom right hand pivots the bat. 4) If bunting on the right side of the infield, once again, you want the second baseman to field the bunt! 5) Sometimes, if you don’t bunt the ball hard enough, you will see both the first baseman and pitcher closing in on the ball. You may very well end up with a hit in this situation because first base is left unguarded because the second baseman is charging in also. That’s great, but in the long run you are still better off bunting so that the second baseman has to field your bunt. 6) If you are bunting down the third base line, just like with the right-handed batter, you do not want the pitcher to field the ball.

In closing, remember that it cost you nothing to take a sneaky, quick look to see if the first baseman or third baseman is playing seven steps behind the bag and you can very easily get a bunt single that is pretty much “on the house.”

Thanks for reading, Love and remember to “Livefree”

Michael Scott

If the season is over, might as well start the exodus now.
Ta-Ta folks..

Mr. Sarcastic

Trying to Matthew, but after being at the park with you last Saturday and witnessing that disaster first hand, it’s getting difficult.

OMT

Not sure what ya mean there, since that fateful last day of winning team attitude, he is been a model of consistency .299/.325/.468.

And I’m not sure how a rib shot affects his ability to speak with some passion to his fellow teammates.

It might actually be time to look at Gary Brown. It’s not like there’s some crackerjack CF/lead-off guy sitting around the majors waiting to be traded to the Giants. That’s what Brown is. I don’t know about “crackerjack,” but he does play CF, and he does lead off. And he’s in AAA and on the 40-man roster (and a former first-round pick). That’s what he’s for.

Eleuthero

I think the Giants FO has been telling us stories all year starting with the seemingly endless delay in Scoots return. I don’t think they’ve been telling us what’s up with Buster since the 2nd half of 2013 and they sure aren’t now. Well, I guess they need rumps in those seats but as we remember from last year, those “sellouts” in the last two months featured “people” that looked strangely like green chairs.

OMT

All they’re getting out of me today is my PLB $54 ticket. That should have at least been enough to pay for the gas for Belt to get down the Interstate 80 and get in the LU.

Eleuthero

I think about the fans more than i do the players because the players get paid regardless. What little boy has Perez, Hicks, or Sanchez as his “hero”? The medical info blackout would really tick me off if I attended these games.

Eleuthero

indeed. No explanation of WHY Belt won’t play ’til week’s end. You’d think he was jet-lagged from flying in from Japan or something.

OMT

Where is all this “Buster is hurt” stuff coming from. He had the back twinge in May but that was then. His June line is .362/.380/.532/.912, seems pretty dang good to me.

Eleuthero

The glass is two-thirds empty and the last third is backwash.

Eleuthero

Yes, I remember the “twinge” but don’t you find it strange that since his “recovery” he’s still getting an amazing number of games at 1B or on the pines at age TWENTY-SEVEN??

Michael Scott

Crick 4 IP 2 H 0 R 0 ER 2 BB 4 SO
But 81 pitches.

Michael Scott

Just square around and then throw the bat down and charge the mound. No reason, just sheets and giggles..

Bapah

OK, I saw Leon and Jerry Jeff, who else was in on that version?

totalfan62

Gregor Blanco: please read and learn. Ditto for all Giants hitters with decent speed, but especially those not hitting in run producing positions in the lineup.

totalfan62

Gregor Blanco: please read and learn. Ditto for all Giants hitters with decent speed, but especially those not hitting in run producing positions in the lineup.

channelclemente

Ray Willy Hubbard, and the rest of the infamous Lost Gonzo Band.

channelclemente

Maybe they’re stretching him out, and the 81 pitches are in a good cause.

Eleuthero

Don’t get me wrong, OMT, Buster is a stoic fellow and if Scutaro isn’t in the lineup, he’s got THE best strike zone discipline of any starter. He could be fighting through pain but give the FO’s tendency to downplay anything short of surgery, I remain suspicious.

totalfan62

Well Eleuthero (by the way, I like your handle since you educated us on its meaning), Hector catches Timmy for previously explained reasons. Buster’s one of the few Giants hitting decently right now, and he gets the day to rest his legs at 1B. Perez for Blanco? Gregor needs a day off and Perez might have a better shot against a rookie vs. an established pitcher. Hicks for Panik must be the lefty/righty thing, plus Hicks has to get a few ABs and maybe he will run into one. Belt’s back this weekend, which likely means Duvall goes back to Fresno and plays everyday. I like Panik, but I don’t think he’s quite ready and he’ll probably go down when Adrianza’s ready to come back. Feel very confident we’ll see the addition of some veteran MLB players before the end of July. Gotta stay in it until then.

paul in p.v.

Lefty called it – give Brown a try – could be another Billy Hamilton in the rough.

totalfan62

Thanks for that info, Michael. I was thinking not only actual BB, but putting up 5-6 pitch ABs, making the pitcher work harder, and getting a better pitch to hit. Some of our guys should be more selective until they have two strikes, IMHO.

totalfan62

I don’t, but I always look at the ESPN boxscore in order to see total number of pitches a player saw that game. I bet you’ll find that data, and when you do, please share.

giantc

I would rather he get the surgery and try and come back — Scutaro should have had surgery last year, then maybe he would be playing this season.
Minimally Invasive back surgery by

giantc

Our problem for the future is that we don’t have much of a military presence left in Germany. Most of our young good players were born in Germany to service-member fathers.

giantc

The problem with Hicks is that while his walk percentage is 13.3% his K percentage is approaching 87%.